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MiniGiants.io is a fantasy-themed deathmatch arena type of game. Tiny warriors roam the battlefield in search of other online opponents. You can be a Fairy, a Necromancer or a mythical Beast and equip mighty weapons and armor and engage in a massive free-for-all with other players around the globe. The fun and action doesn’t stop in this never-ending deathmatch IO game!

BrutalMania.io is an online fighting arena IO game where players fight against one another with nothing but their wits and their weapon of choice. It’s a free-for-all arena where mindless violence and brutality isn’t encouraged- it’s recommended!

EvoWars.io is a frenetic deathmatch arena-style action game where the only objective is to kill, kill, kill! Aim to be the top warrior by getting the most Kills and Scores. Unlock nifty Evolutions to gain an even greater edge on the battlefield!

Paper.io is a game that’s based on the 1984 title Xonix, upgraded with new game modes and graphics. The objective is to acquire as much territory with your paper avatar while edging out the competition. Plan, strategize and move to attack and defend at the same time!

LittleBigSnake.io is a turbo-charged version of the classic Snake, with shinier graphics, upgrade-able skills and multiplayer aspect. In the game, players complete missions while seeking to destroy other snakes to get bigger and have better skills and abilities. Can you climb your way up the food chain and become the ultimate Little Big Snake?

MooMoo.io is a massively multiplayer real time strategy game where players start out by gathering resources to establish a village. Set up a base, grow it and defend it from other players, all while plotting to become the strongest in the land.

Superhex.io is a casual arcade game where you try to conquer as much hexagon-sized territory as possible. There are several things to keep in mind as you play- get as much land as you can, defend it and don’t get hit!

Slay.one is a free multiplayer top-down shooter you can play on your PC. Don’t let the pixel graphics fool you- the frantic action and robust game content will keep you playing for hours on end. Double the fun with friends or go online multiplayer and blast away other players with an array of devastating weapons!

Wormax.io stems from the tried-and-true concept of simple, thrilling action. This multiplayer game comes with heavy influences from Slither.io, and it’ll totally live up to your expectations both in terms of game play and functionalities.

Zombs.io is a unique 2D MMO/ Tower Defense game that lets you play as a character in a zombie-infested land. Armed with only a few basic tools, you’ll have to mine and harvest resources to set base, build towers and upgrade armor and other items.

Pikes.io takes on a medieval combat theme, with players going up against one another in a free-for-all jousting tournament. Do you have what it takes to pick up your spear and ride in battle with thousands of other knights for fame and glory? Play Pikes.io and find out.

Diep.io has you playing a simple geometric tank, blasting away at blocks and other players to become stronger. As you accumulate points and level up, cool upgrades become available. You can choose to become an agile tank that shoots rapid-fire bullets or a slow, lumbering machine that blasts cannons in all directions. The choice is yours!

Slither.io is a game that’s very similar to the original Snake. The premise is to get your snake to become the longest by blocking other people’s path with your body while “slithering” to avoid their body making contact with your snake’s head.

Agar.io is a reflex action game where you control a tiny cell that gets bigger as it consumes other cells. It's deceptively simple but gets more interesting as you play. The law of the game? It's eat or be eaten, with you trying to get smaller-sized cells while...

Agar.IO was the game that started the IO game frenzy! Since it's release there have been a huge number of games that have taken Agar.IO's base game play and added new features to enhance the game play. Check out a few of the games that are similar to...

Slither.IO was one of the first IO games that I played! It's simplistic game play mechanics allowed you to quickly learn the game and have fun chasing down other worms. Since it's launch there have been a lot of games with similar game play but also add new...

The Most Fun Top Rated .IO Online Games List

This list was created to help people find new, fun, and top rated .IO games. There are a lot of games out there that don’t get the exposure they deserve! We’ve broken down all of the popular .IO games into categories to easily find your favorite .IO game or maybe try out a new one. If we’re missing any .IO games please feel free to reach out to us through the contact form above and we’ll add it to our list of .IO games as quick as we can. If you’re a developer of a .IO game please use the developer link in our menu to get your game added to our site, if you provide a link back to us from your game we’ll put you in our featured .IO games as well!

What are .IO games? Where did they come from?

.IO games is a term applied to web games that have a .IO extension on their website. Normally they are MMO style games that feature quick and easy game play experiences so people can jump right in and have fun. The most popular .IO games are Slither.IO and Agar.io. They basically started this .IO rush of games.

Why are .IO games so popular?

All of the popular .IO games follow a few rules that lead to their success.

The game-play needs to be easy to pick up, but still provide challenge to the user to fully master it.

They are quick to load, and don’t require long downloads.

Allow players to show off their skill/power in-game through visuals, to allow them to stand out from the crowd.

Top 10 .IO Games

While a few of the .IO games stand out from the crowd as far as user count goes, the top 10 .IO games is really up for debate. It depends on the play style you’re going for, whether you want a MMO shooter or more of a zombie survival type game. The great thing is that there are tons of .IO games to choose from these days, so check out our list of the top .IO games and find one that you really enjoy!

.IO Games and Gaming: A Primer

If you have been a part of the gaming word in the last two years, you will have no doubt heard the craze surrounding .io games found across the internet. Numbered in the hundreds, some of the best .io games see millions of visitors coming to their sites daily. Games like Agar.io, arguably the most popular .io game in the world, net between $50,000 and $100,000 per month through ad revenue alone. With that amount of cash flow coming out of the most popular .io games, it has turned this gaming subgenre into a new gold rush!

With developers large and small coming out with new .io titles nearly every day, we at Gazpo Games wanted to take the time to give a comprehensive overview of this world-wide phenomenon for our readers. First, let us explain what makes .io games unique from other genres in the markets. Next, we want to go over the history of the .io extension and which .io games started it all. Finally, we will provide descriptions of the most popular .io game styles played online today, which, ironically, will coincide with some of the top rated .io games available for play. By the end, you will have a strong knowledge base on the subject to share with your friends. Let’s dive in!

Why are IO Games so Popular?

Instant Gratification On Demand

All .io games have a few common features that have made them wildly popular with a generation of gamers that are constantly on the move in this ever increasing, fast paced world. Listed below are three specifics aspects of .io games that make them so wildly popular.

Browser Based

Being a browser based game is not unique to .io games. However, having it available wherever there is an internet connection and not requiring you to be tied to a desktop opens up the possibilities for gameplay. It is far easier to jump into a .io game for a few minutes between classes or while travelling than you would be able to with traditional games that requirement you to download them.

Fast game play

.IO games offer quick rounds with constant respawns. It doesn’t have any real time commitment. Since the gameplay is basic and addictive, you can jump on when you are free to play and quit without worrying about if your game is saved.

Networked Multiplayer

This feature allows you to play with people all around the world in real time which plays into the other two popular aspects of it. Fast and accessible to a ton of competitors at a moments notice. It is the very best of gaming on demand, and it is typically for to boot. How can you go wrong with .io gaming?

What Does the .IO Stand for in Games?

.IO...What is That?

The .io extension has created this almost mystical quality to the .io games. Entire threads on Reddit and Quora go in exhaustive length about the theories and reasons for what it stands for and why it was used. We searched through the bottomless thread of trolls and came up with the most popular theories and meanings out there behind the .io extension.

.IO = Indian Ocean Territory

At its most fundamental meaning, .io is an international domain extension used in the Indian Ocean Territory, which is an area between Africa and Southwest Asia. Simply put, it is no different than .com, .org, or .net. Interestingly, though, the .io extension is known to be more expensive that most other domain extensions out there. Was this used intentionally for nefarious domain profiting endeavors? Probably not, but we thought it was a funny coincidence.

.IO = Input/Output

Another popular theory is that .io stands for Input/Output, a term widely used in the IT world. This term refers to the communication that occurs between system networks. What is interesting to note about this theory and rationale is that a major component of .io games is their MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) capabilities, linking up with people across the globe to play online. As such, it would make sense to use it in this context. However, was that the reason why the .io extension was use? The verdict is still out on that one and leads us to our third theory (and probably the most likely reason).

.IO = Hey, That Sounds Cool!

A third option for choosing the .io extension likely comes from a marketing angle, as it can take any noun and make it sound fun, like bookio or parachutio. See how fun that was? It is actually very clever for the early developers of the .io game genre since most gaming is supposed to be fun entertainment, why not have a light-hearted name to match the gameplay?

Whatever the motivation that came from picking .io as the extension to this popular gaming genre, most can agree that it has added a fun take on the games that fall in this category. Next, we will discuss which .io games started it all.

What was the Very First .IO Game Made?

Which Came First: Agar or Slither? Perhaps neither?

As is with much information online, it is hard to pinpoint which was the first game to use the .io extension. To be clear, this extension has been around since 1997. It is nothing new. In fact, many tech companies have used this extension for years because they thought it sounded “cool.” However, the birth of the .io game came in 2015, but who was first, agar.io or slither.io? Some actually claim that is was neither! Some claim that the first games to use this extension were cursor.io and voar.io. Based on some specific pieces of information online, however, we concluded the winner is Agar.io!

AGAR.IO is the Winner! But Why?

According to information found on the agar.io wikipedia, Agar.io premiered on the popular site 4chan in April of 2015. It became a huge success, being the most searched game on Google in 2015 and even making an appearance on the Netflix show House of Cards. It even made a brief political appearance during the 2015 Turkish elections, where players took on the names of Turkish politicians and political parties, forming alliances and battling it out to see who would win. It remains at a top 10 .io game, despite the age of the game still makes a mint in ad revenue daily. So, what about slither.io? Does it get an honorable 2nd?

Slither.io is Second to One

Despite being made after Agar.io, Slither.io ballooned for its likeness the classic arcade game snake. Premiering in early 2016, the game received huge success thanks to being featured on some prominent YouTube channels. In July 2016, it was the 250th ranked site in the world on Alexa, a most prominent feat. It it still considered one of the best .io games out there and they developer earned as much as $100,000 per day (that’s right) at the boom of this game! Now that we know who the first players in the .io game genre were, let us dive into some different .io games styles!

Common .IO Game Styles

Not All .IO Games are the Same

Believe it or not, not every .io game is made in the same fashion. There are some games where you go around and eat up other players to grow in size. Other games you team up to play soccer. With hundreds of titles, there is about that much variety in the graphics and gaming. However, there are a few game styles that have been named by those .io games that founded that style. Here are five of those styles with a description of the gameplay that comes with it.

Agar.io Style Games

The basic concept behind .io games in the agar.io genre is you start as a cell, or unit. You move around the map collecting orbs or killing other players to grow in size. To take out other players, you shoot a part of yourself at them, hence dividing like a cell. Most of the controls only require the mouse.

Slither.io Style Games

The basic concept behind .io games in the slither.io style is that you play as a snake like creature that grows in length as you collect orbs around you and by killing other players. To take out other players, you must put your body in front of their head to disrupt their path while avoiding doing the same to not get killed. Like Agar.io, the controls only use the mouse.

Diep.io Style Games

The basic concept behind .io games in the diep.io style is that you play as a unit, like agar.io, but instead of growing, you collect points to use for upgrades to your character. This style also typically has a shooter element where you take out other players by shooting them with yourself or gun or whatever. Most of the controls use only the mouse except for the numbers to pick your upgrades.

MooMoo.io Style Games

The basic concept behind .io games in the moomoo.io style is survival. This could be survival from other players, the elements, or monsters around you. This is done by collecting resources to create structures and protect yourself. Additionally, teamwork is a common part of this style of gaming. The controls used are a combination of the mouse and keyboard to move and interact withobjects.

Splix.io Style Games

The basic concept behind .io games in the splix.io style is to use your player to build up your own territory and conquer the territory of those around you. This is accomplished by constantly venturing out from your zone and returning to box off a new amount of territory, all the while dodging your opponents from attacking you. All of your gameplay uses to mouse to get around the board.

As mentioned above these are five popular .io game styles found online today. However, each game produced “copy cats”, bringing their own unique features, graphics, and interactions to gameplay.

Huzzah!

There you have it, a comprehensive guide to the gaming genre known as .io games. We would like to thank you for reading through and hope that you have a newfound appreciation for this style of game. If you want to try out a few of the different .io game styles or some of the top rated .io games, check out our Gazpo games section.

Thanks!

Oh, and if you're not looking for .io games, feel free to check out articles about all sorts of topics at Gazpo Explore.